The Prairie du Chien Common Council tackled a couple of big issues and approved a slew of resolutions during their May 5 meeting.

While there was palpable contention during the meeting, that attitude didn’t transfer over to a commendation given to Dave Hemmer for more than 25 years of service to the city as an alderman and as the mayor.

Hemmer steps away from his seat after working on numerous projects and initiatives for the city, including the long-gestating public safety building for the police and fire departments.

Public safety bids

The council awarded the construction contract for the Public Safety Building during the meeting.

According to a memo from Mark Zvikovitz, an architect with Short, Elliot and Hendrickson (SEH), 11 bids for the project were taken on March 17.

“You got a very healthy response in your bids, with 11 bidders responding to the RFP (Request for Proposal)... it’s a big day for Prairie du Chien,” said Trevor Frank, another architect with SEH.

The low bid received was for $10,159,712 from the Americon Construction Company (d.b.a. All-American Lumber, Inc.) based out of Tomah, and the City received USDA approval for the bid on April 27. Other bids ranged between $10.7 million and $11.6 million.

SEH also recommended the City retain a 10 percent contingency in addition to the contracted amount.

“This has been discussed since my tenure as police chief,” said City Administrator Chad Abram. “We’re at the point now that we’ve gone through a government shutdown and a lot of cuts and a lot of changes within this facility.”

Americon has been in business for approximately 40 years and has completed a variety of projects, from residential, multi-family units and commercial buildings.

Abram said the bid and the project meet all government requirements necessary, and the project still qualifies to receive the $4.95 million in federal appropriations earmarked for it back in 2023. The only caveat for the federal money is that the City has to spend its portion first before receiving the money.

The council is expected to approve a resolution to borrow money for the project next month, with it hopefully breaking ground before the end of the summer. Abram said the construction window is estimated to be 300 days.

Campion subdivision

The council received three recommendations from their Public Works Committee, and while the first two items were approved without much discussion, the last one was met with push back from the community.

In a memo from City Planner Nate Gilberts, the City wants to explore subdividing a lot at the corner of East Campion Boulevard and South 22nd Street. The lot is approximately 1.5 acres and is directly north of the site for the new municipal well.

Alderman Jaaren Riebe, who is a member of the Public Works Committee, said the plan would be to get the lot divided and rezoned to Residential 2 (R2), which allows two-family homes to be built.

Gilberts’s memo noted that the City receives continued requests from developers for vacant land to build duplexes on. He wrote that the lot on 22nd is an “ideal area for development with water and sewer installed” under the bordering streets. He later suggested that water and sewer infrastructure was put in on 22nd Street with the intention of developing more of the area for residential use.

Residents from the neighboring areas attended the meeting to oppose the move, saying they were not made aware of the City’s intention to subdivide the lot.

There was confusion due to a change on the agenda, which moved new business items, including the Public Safety Building bids and the Public Works Committee recommendations, to the beginning of the meeting before the time for citizens’ comments. Mayor Mark Gillitzer allowed citizen comments to be heard before the council took action.

Concerns ranged from issues with the location, which is in a less densely populated area close to agricultural properties, to the lot’s current zoning as agricultural land.

Members of the community also suggested the development of the area goes against the City’s most recent comprehensive plan to “avoid construction on agricultural land unless within the city’s urban service area” and to “preserve and protect the city’s natural and agricultural land for their beauty, environmental productivity and value for future generations.”

Others suggested development in the area would inhibit private citizens’ efforts to boost agri-tourism, which could enrich Prairie du Chien’s residents and businesses.

A member of the council and the city planner made rebuttals for some of the community members’ comments.

Gilberts said the action in front of the council wasn’t to rezone the lot. “This is just to see what it could be subdivided into because there’s a need for duplexes in the city.”

“The vote is just to have our engineer plot out what three to four lots would look like in that area,” he added.

Gillitzer questioned why the City was paying thousands of dollars to an engineer to draw out lots. “This just seems like it’s going way too fast.”

According to Gilberts, the neighborhood residents would be notified of the city’s intention to rezone the property once a plan was submitted to the Planning Commission. Letters would be sent out to affected residents, and notices would be published in the Courier Press.

The City is looking to develop the lot to increase the City’s tax base and meet the needs of the community.

Riebe added that the City was looking to “improve income,” which is one of the ways it has to stave off raising taxes to meet the city’s budget needs.

The council didn’t take any action in order for the city planner to have time to put together a timeline for the subdivision process moving forward.

In attendance were alderpersons Nick Crary, Vicki Waller, Bob Granzow, Nate Bremmer, Riebe, Todd Crotty and Andy Ringgold. Gillitzer, Abram, Nate Gilberts, Street Superintendent Nick Gilberts and City Clerk Tina Fuller were also present. Kayla Ingham was absent.

The next council meeting is scheduled for May 19.

Other business

• approved resolutions recognizing the week of May 10–16 as National Police Week and May 3–9 as National Firefighter Week.
• approved a resolution “strongly urging” the governor of Wisconsin and state legislature to move forward with a sustainable solution for state and local transportation program funding.
• approved a bid from Iverson Construction for bituminous paving and a handicap parking stall to be placed on Blackhawk Avenue in front of Weber Chiropractic.